A HUSBAND who dialled 999 to get an ambulance for his dying wife was met with a recorded message, an inquest heard.

Kevin Duffy called the emergency services after he discovered his partner Diane, aged 52, slumped in the bath at their home in Mayfield Road, Earlsdon, Coventry, and could not revive her.

But because of the volume of calls being dealt with by West Midlands Ambulance Service, Mr Duffy was kept on hold until his call could be dealt with.

Coventry coroner David Sarginson described the call handling system as ?slipshod? and stated that the arrangements outlined resembled a ?call centre rather than the emergency services?.

Mr Sarginson also raised concerns about the number of people, contacting emergency services, who were put on hold.

Questioned by the coroner, Steven Elliker, the ambulance service?s control centre manager, said that the message heard by Mr Duffy was an acknowledgement, designed to ensure that he remained on the line.

He said: ?Occasionally we get a volume of work, coming into the call centre, and we do not physically have enough people to handle the calls.?

Mr Elliker estimated that the acknowledgement message could potentially be employed between 15 and 20 times each day.

But he stressed that emergency calls, such as Mr Duffy?s would take precedence over routine enquiries.

Problems with the call centre?s rising workload were being tackled through the constant monitoring of calls and the recruitment of additional staff, added Mr Elliker.

The inquest heard that, on the night of her death, on July 7, Mrs Duffy had been drinking and decided to take a bath.

Her husband, noticing that his wife was quiet, went to investigate and found her slumped forward. He said he tried to give her the kiss of life and heart massage, before dialling 999.

Mr Duffy said: ?I said ?I think my wife has drowned - I think she has had an accident?. They put me through to the ambulance service and I was told that an operator would be with me as soon as possible. That message came through three times.?

The ambulance crew reached the Duffy?s house within eight minutes of receiving the call. Mrs Duffy was taken to Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital, but found to be dead on arrival, the inquest was told.

A post mortem later gave the cause of death as drowning, related to alcohol intoxication. Recording a verdict of accidental death, the coroner said there was no evidence that Mrs Duffy had intended to take her own life.

After the inquest Mr Duffy said: ?I hope that this is a lesson learned and that people will be safer in future.?